ROME -- Age is just a number for Sorana Cirstea. The 36-year-old Romanian surged into the Italian Open semifinals Wednesday, defeating former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-1, 7-6(0).
Cirstea, who plans to retire later this year, has already delivered the tournament's biggest upset by knocking out world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the third round.
Now just one win away from breaking into the top 20 for the first time in her career, Cirstea said: "There's no expiration date for ambition and dreams. I absolutely love this sport."
Her clay-court record this season is stellar, with losses only to Coco Gauff and Mirra Andreeva. She will face one of those two in the semifinals.